Our mind and body

    If you were told that your mind and body did not interact,you might hesitate to accept such a state-ment
You might remember episodes of fear of anxiety which were accompanied by bodily symptoms of nausea,sweating,weakness
    or palpitations.Unfortunately,we have come to believe that the mind and the body should be approach separately.

techniques,as well as medications.Illness of the body are treated by physicians who employ drugs and operative
techniques which are directed toward alleviation or cure.Since our bodieds are composed of various organ systems,
medical and surgical specialists treat our bodily diseases accordingly."Mind doctors" and " body doctors" regrettably
do not always consider us as whole beings.An attempt is now being made to bridge the traditionally separated disciplines
of psychiatry and medicine. Behavioral Medicine represents an interdisciplinary approach to health care which
incorporates the princliples of medicine,physiology,psyciatry and psychology.It enables you as a patient to be
viewed as an entire individual.Behavioral Medicine recognizes that your behavior is related to your health and to
your illness.

    Your body is highly complex entity composed of a number of different,yet coordinated,biological systems.
These systems permit effective interaction between our internal and external surroundings.The digestive system
functions to process necessary food stuffs for the body and to eliminate wastes.The acquisition of oxygen,necessary
to convert the food stuffs into energy,is performed by the respiratiory system. This systemalso helps to eliminate
carbon dioxide and water,the unused products of energy conversion.The renal,or kidney,system participates in the
removal of waste products.The circulatory system distributes blood continuously through approximately 50,000 miles
of arteries,capillaries and veins to supply each of our trillions of cells with sufficient fuel to carry out its functions.
This system then carries modified and unused fuel to other sites for utilization of elimination.The blood itself,
containg red and white cell,constitutes a separate system.The red blood cells bind,transport and release oxygen
and carbon dioxides; the white blood cells combat infections and are an integral part of the immunological system
of the body.Movement and locomotion are produced by the muscular-skeletal systems.The endocrine system regulates
the internal environment of our bodies through the secretion of hormones such as insulin,thyroxin, and epineprine
(adrenaline).The reproductive system enables the prepetuation of other human beings through elaborate biological and behaviral processes.

    These highly diffentiated systems are integrated by the nervous system.It is divided anatomically into
the central and peripheral nervous systems.The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord
The peripheral nervous system consists of a network of nerves connecting the various internal organs and systems
of the body to central nervous system.The central nervous system enables thought and memory to occur.The entire
nervous system permits our bodies to interpret consciously and unconciously our external and internal environments.

Nerve endings which  are specialized for sight,smell,hearing,taste and the sensation of touch,temperature,pressure
and pain supply information.The entire nervous system regulates bodily events such as the circulation of blood,
the digestion of food and breathing.The nervous system coordinates bodily response to the environment.These responses
are usually combinations of reaction,some of  which reach consciousness and others which do not. When we interpret
a situation as dangerous enough to necessitate bodily escape,we are aware of fright and of our running,but we
are unaware of the physiological responses of increased metabolism,elevated blood pressure,greater blood flow to the muscles and decreased blood flow to the digestive organs.All our bodily systems are intricately interwoven
for optimal function.So how can there be a workable separation of mind and body and how did such an artificial
separation come about?